Art Therapy in the Schools–Does it Work?

Art therapy in the schools involves professional art therapists along with preschoolers, children, adolescents, teachers, and families. The art therapist is specifically trained to recognize a struggling student’s emotional issues that are preventing them from learning. Other things, such as learning disabilities or language/speech disorders, can also be evaluated along with behavioral disorders and mental illness.

The reason art therapy in the schools works so well is because very few children of any age can resist the art-making processes–a blank piece of paper, the smell of new crayons, the feel of clay, and the visual impact of the moving watercolors. The art therapist can take this artwork and diagnose problems from it, providing certain appropriate interventions that may be needed along with specific services to assist the child in his or her developmental learning.

Some of the advantages of art therapy in the schools are the provisions of visual and verbal approaches in order to address certain child needs. An assessment by the art therapist involves giving the child or adolescent five or six art assignments, using different media. The ideas behind this is to have the child or adolescent perceive their family, themselves, their school, their friends, or anything in their environment and then apply this perception to their artwork.

Once finished, the artwork is evaluated through the art therapist, head of the art therapy in the schools program. Also evaluated is the individual’s academic history in connection with their development and family. Art therapists are trained to recognize cultural spectrums, using the artwork as an assessment evaluation in relation to the culture they are from.

Art therapy in the schools recognizes that all children’s drawings are divided up into certain stages. An advantage, it is pretty easy to distinguish when a child is behind their age level. Autism is the only separate condition when the child will be ahead of their age level, which would be easily recognized by their artwork. Children with learning disabilities have advanced creative and visual intelligence for art, yet demonstrate lower scores on the standardized tests.

It is during this level of artworks and their diagnosis that the artwork of the child or adolescent will begin to show a certain amount of deviation, depending on the amount and type of internal conflict that is present. This will be represented through the drawing style and the individual’s developmental level. One connecting example would be ADHD, where heavy coloring would represent the over-activity, yet appear small in some form of classroom setting.

The reason art therapy in the schools is important, is due to the safety levels held within the school systems for the child. Many do not have safe environments, or feel secure about themselves–school is their “other family” and the artwork is able to represent what that person is feeling inside.

What About Art Therapy Programs?

By the time the art therapy programs have been chosen in the Art Therapy school of choice, students should have already declared this their major primary field of study, which is considered the most important decision they will ever make. According to one college, the Ursuline College Graduate pre-requisites, many prerequisite courses will have been already completed in college to qualify for upper-level courses, with a Bachelor’s degree in art, psychology, behavioral science, social science, or a related field already acquired before art therapy programs can begin.

Schools that teach art therapy programs require the student to show evidence of their ability to do graduate work in the art therapy field. Not a simple field, this requires a 3.0 grade point average or above, which is based on a 4.0 system. The reason for this is because anything as a high school freshman (or 9th grade) and on up will be added to the cumulative GPA, which will effect the outcome of the schools seeking admittance to, and the scholarships being applied for. When applying to a school which teaches art therapy programs, this will have great impact on whether or not the student will be accepted.

Art therapy programs have quite a few prerequisites, which make art therapy classes easier to understand and to apply to one’s ability to learn. One such group of prerequisites to art therapy programs is a completed minimum of 18 semester hours in studio art–drawing, painting, clay or sculpture. Another is a minimum of 12 semester hours in Psychology, a prerequisite that involves four areas: General Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Personality or Counseling Development, and Abnormal Psychology or Psychopathology. And last but not least is some experience in a human service context field working with people on some level.

U.S. News has a partial list of 26 Art Therapy Schools which have quality art therapy programs under a national listing of the top “America’s Best Colleges 2008″ list. When choosing the college major for a future in art therapy, working with people of all types, ages, and backgrounds will be part of the job description. Working in art therapy uses visual artistic expression by the client to allow them to safely express hidden emotions and to explore their personal problems. The end result can enable them to achieve positive change in their lives, combined with personal growth. The major difference in art therapy, as compared to traditional psychological therapies, is that it consists of a three-way process. This process is combination of efforts between the client, therapist, and the artwork itself.

Art therapy programs have professionals to train the prospective art therapist to work in many different ways. Some of these ways are to work with other professionals as a team; assess the individual needs of the client; listen to them and provide guidance; work creatively with them in a therapeutic setting; enable the client themselves to explore their own creativity, their art work, and its process; and most important, maintain the latest research and new ideas regarding the latest developments of art therapy.

Magical Applications of Art Therapy Activities

The use of art therapy activities depends a lot on the type of individual that it is being used for. Remembering that the goal of art therapy is based on each individual client’s diagnosis, their particular capabilities, individual needs, and their personal interests–an emphasis on the creative process is placed along the path instead of the final finished project.

As a rule of thumb, adults do not respond as well to art therapy activities as do children, requiring a certain degree of convincing that they have creative ability. There is an excited eagerness about children (and certain adults) when they see paint, pencils, colored paper, and clay. This is why they can respond so well to art therapy activities in a therapeutic session as compared to adults. In fact, most adults would prefer to express their own creative side in the privacy of their home in order to reduce stress. But there are times when more serious problems require the assistance of professional help–such as with an art therapist.

Art therapy activities can be successful because they have the ability to move the mind from the problem itself, in hopes of achieving peace and happiness. The Dalai Lama once said, “In the final analysis, the hope of every person is simply peace of mind.” This achievement can be accomplished with a pleasant state of conscious, on the condition there is a connection with reality. With art therapy and art therapy activities, reality can be moved and changed for a few minutes, as art can take a person’s mind off what is the problem, allowing the subconscious to come forth and speak in another language that is kinder and much more gentler.

When creating with art therapy activities, the body and mind obtains a certain flow about it, almost as if it was in a near-meditative state. Over the centuries, philosophers have been aware that meditation has the ability to blank the mind out of what is currently going on around it. In fact, the visualizations that develop through this form of creativity have the ability to build tomorrow’s desired reality, if the art is allowed to be created in a thoughtless state of pure automation.

This mind-set works well with art therapy activities, as not all children and adults can accurately verbalize about how they feel what is going on inside of their mind or their body, especially if something traumatic has happened. Not in touch with the reality of emotions and inner feelings, the mind is not free to experience the present which is where we are, but is buried in the past with hidden memories that cannot break free.

BACP Art Therapy Provisions

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, or BACP, is today’s professional membership association for UK’s counselors and psychotherapists, a branch of the Standing Conference for the Advancement of Counselling. Originally it included only counseling, but in September of 2000 it branched out to include psychotherapy with the BACP name change from the British Association for Counselling. It was here that the BACP Art Therapy came into effect on the psychotherapy level for accepted professionalism.

Art psychotherapy uses visual expression as a form of therapy that can effect the mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders of disturbed individuals of all ages, gender, and background. To apply for BACP membership for accreditation as a BACP art therapy professional, requires qualification from a BACP art therapy accredited training course in addition to a minimum of 450 hours of supervised practice. Mandatory is 450 hours with 150 of them must be subsequent to the training completion from three to six-years. Or alternatively, the individual can be awarded a admittance from a BACP accredited training course.

A certain amount of criteria must be met before an individual can become accepted through the BACP Art Therapy in the psychotherapy division, and this criteria is met by following certain things.
• The individual is a member of BACP, and will remain so for the accreditation period. Requirements must be met to maintain the accreditation.
• The individual is covered by professional indemnity insurance.
• The individual is in practice as a professional at the time of the application.
• Training and supervised practice is provided and followed.

BACP Art Therapy plays an active part in the Faculty for Healthcare Counsellors and Psychotherapists (FHCP), as a major subsidiary organization of the BACP. With close to 2,000 members, it is the largest membership organization that is entirely associated with healthcare counselors and psychotherapist. With similar goals, both BACP and FHCP promote and support the patient’s choice of psychological therapy, along with accessible services. Their members are competent and efficient, while the organization trains and provides opportunities for their prospective counselors, such as art therapist, by providing training events and conferences.

Another division of the BACP is the Association for Independent Practitioners, or AIP, for those who are interested in the BACP Art Therapy membership but more on an independent level. Formerly the Personal Relationship Groupwork (PRG), it involves those who choose to work independently rather than within a professional group. In this region, there is more of an emphasis on clear boundaries, and provisions of support and supervision. Members from other groups and cultures are actively invited to join this group, as a part of their philosophic practices.

Child Art Therapy for Probing the Unconscious

Child art therapy involves different practices in education, rehabilitation and psychotherapy. A successful field today where art is incorporated into the psychotherapy, child art therapy is used as a means for children and their art therapist to not only visual the unconscious but also to eventually recognize it on a conscious level. Used to promote healing, art on a therapeutic level is used in many settings to benefit the child.

One of these major settings involve the school, where the art therapist helps the child with internal conflicts, using the child’s artwork to put into some form of positive action a change within. Child art therapy does not involve the art therapist alone, but the teaching and counseling staff in addition to the child’s parents and family members.

Many times, the students who are involved within the art therapy setting are special education students who are having difficulty. In this case, the child art therapy is used for conditions such as learning disabilities, emotional problems and disturbances, behavior disorders, and even physical handicaps that are the result of impaired gross and fine mother control.

Child art therapy requires a Masters level in education, which would be able to recognize the six stages of development in children’s drawings in addition to being able to connect intellectual growth in the child, their psychosocial stages of development, and this correspondence to the six stages of development in the child’s drawings. These six stages fall within certain age groups:

• The Scribble Stage - occurs 18 months to two years of age
This age demonstrates the ability to be aware of patterns, utilizing hand-eye coordination.

• The Pre-Schematic Stage - occurs four to seven years
The child may draw human figures with circles, and two dangling lines for legs.

• The Schematic Stage -occurs seven to nine years
The characteristics of this age group show what the child is thinking vs. what they are actually seeing.

• The Dawning Realism - occurs nine or two years
Demonstrating how things “really look” become important, which causes excessive frustration

When using child art therapy, the child is usually given five or six art directions by the art therapist. They will represent the child’s perception of themselves, their family, their school, or any aspect of their environment. When this is done, they will be evaluated by the art therapist in addition to looking at the child’s academic history, their personal development, and their family. Many things need to be evaluated–the child’s culture, their home life, or their financial situation, as drawings differ across the spectrum. One thing that has been noticed is when learning disabled children are found to have low intelligence measurements on standardized tests, they are significantly more advanced in creative and visual intelligence. A change such as adding a visual component may be needed to enhance their learning.

Using Clip Art for Massage Therapy

When it comes to promoting a business in massage therapy, using clip art for massage therapy is the cheapest and wisest way to go. If this does not sound accurate, check out the price for good quality original artwork, unless that massage therapist is also an excellent artist who does his or her own clip art. Once this is done, it will become quite apparent that high quality clip art for massage therapy is more than a bargain.

The only problem with choosing good clip art for massage therapy is there is too much to pick from. Considered as pre-made images to illustrate any graphic arts medium, almost anyone in advertising or business uses clip art anymore. Not including stock photography the majority of the time, clip art is usually done by hand or by computer software. Available in black and white, or in full color, the term “clip art” originally began when people cut out certain images from pre-existing art work to form a new piece of art work.

With so much to pick from, it is difficult to pick the “right” type of clip art for a person’s advertising to promote their massage business, unless they know what they want to say and how to say it. Many styles and concepts are used, such as humorous, serious, illustrative, wood block, sketchy, abstract, realistic, and so on. The main thing is to choose the type of clip art for massage therapy that illustrates an idea or tells a story–contributing a specific meaning to a certain message that the message owner wants to send out.

Learning to use visual language in addition to wordage will make a person better equipped to expand their message business. Using borders and background as decorative elements to break up space, using diversity that is like none others, along with many other ways to send out a message while using clip art for massage therapy ideas include:

• Visual Puns - one or two possible meanings can be portrayed by one or two symbols.
• Symbol - using a visual image of something that is invisible.
• Sign - the use of a shorthand device that actually stands for something else.
• Metaphor - a likeness between two ideas portrayed by a likeness
• Icon - image used to suggest a meaning
• Cliché - an image with a widely understood meaning.

Many artists and designers have said, “If concept is what you say, style is how you phrase it.” This is the reason one artist can come up with so many different ideas for one simple meaning. But in truth, professional designers do not have the magic formula to make their work better than another one does. They only can communicate the message better, using art and words alone.

Music Therapy Schools

Choosing the Best Music Therapy Schools

Choosing a school is never a simple task.  When you are trying to find a place that will guide you toward your academic and personal goals, not all music therapy schools are made alike.  You need to weigh several factors in choosing the program that’s right for you.  While this process is time consuming, the best music therapy schools are out there – if only you a few hours of your time to carefully consider your options.

The first thing that most people look for in music therapy schools is their accreditation status.  You generally want to apply to programs where the curriculum has been verified by the national accreditation board so that you can potentially teach at higher education systems or transfer your credits to another program later in your learning.  It is simple enough to find the answer to this question – ask the school enrollment office when you sign up for more information.  They will let you know if you are looking at an accredited school or not.  While there’s nothing necessary wrong with a non-accredited school, it can limit your career options down the road.

The next thing to look for in music therapy schools is the price.  Though student loans and grants are often used to help pay for education these days, that doesn’t mean that you need to borrow a bunch of money to get your degree.  Find programs that are reasonable in cost so that you can focus on what you are learning, rather than what you are paying for the education you are receiving.  It will help to determine a range of prices for your schooling as well as to figure out what you can afford to pay each month, if they offer a monthly installment plan.  Limiting the amount of money you need to borrow is always good advice.

But it’s the programs at music therapy schools that you should really focus on.  Look at the classes they offer, when they are offered, and who the teachers are.  You want to sign up at a school where the teachers are already professional music therapists as they can give you a better idea of what to expect in your career and what you need to learn before you will be ready.  Though the reputation of a school might be something that’s appealing to you, another factor to consider is class size.  You don’t want to be lost in the masses of a larger school when you could be going to a lesser know, but still solid school, getting the attention you need.

Does Alternative Medicine Work?

In today’s modern times, many of us no longer believe in alternative medicine, natural remedies, the use of herbs or anything that does not involve the use of traditional modern medicine. We have made so many advances in modern day medicine, that most of us don’t trust or want to believe in anything else. The question I ask myself constantly is; “if traditional medicine has become so much better than other alternative, more natural medicine, Why are we still getting sick?” Why do some people get better when they use alternative medicines? Why do traditional medical professionals see so many ¨unexplained healings,¨ as they like to call them. Is it all because of miracles, or is it thanks to Alternative medicine?

Natural medicine does work! Or at least I am one of those believers. But as even the best alternative medicine professionals believe, it should be used in conjunction with traditional medicine. Natural, or alternative medicines allow your body to heal itself, and to balance itself out, without the use of so many chemicals. Even studies done by traditional medicine experts show that many life threatening diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart problems are caused by stress and anxiety. If the cause is stress, and they agree that one of the best ways to fight this stress and anxiety is through alternative medicine, then how can they also say that alternative medicine doesn’t work. Why do so many in the medical profession say that alternative medicine doesn’t work? Well, your guess is as good as mine! But whether it’s the natural medicine, herbs, therapies or just the patients faith, what is true that something is working, and it’s more than just traditional medicine.

Recently, in a conversation with a friend, who was once a stage IV cancer patient, I asked him what he attributed his healing too. This man should be dead, he is in the 3% survivor rate and was stage four! He told me the doctors had sent him home and told him to make his final plans. Instead he used his faith, tried alternative medicine and is still alive today! If you ask him, whether he believes in alternative medicine or not, he will say, ¨I don’t know what I believe in, but I am still here. Does that answer your question?” ¨It might have been the natural herbal treatment I take, it might be people’s prayers, it might even be traditional medicine. The good thing is I’m still here for a few more years and enjoying every minute of it! I don’t think I could have ever written a better analogy as to the effectiveness of alternative medicine.

The truth is that there are two types of people. Those who truly believe in the natural healing wonders of alternative medicines, and others who believe that natural medicine is a matter of “old wives tales” and these old techniques that have no effect at all.

It is difficult to say which is true and which is not. But we are left with something to consider. If alternative medicines do not work, then why have they been around for thousands of years, and why do we still use them? Why do people who use them, survive life threatening diseases? Is it truly just a matter of faith, or is there really something to these alternative medicine techniques? Those questions I will leave you to answer.

Jung–Art Therapy

Carl S. Jung–Art Therapy in the Making

Carl Jung, known for the Jung art therapy theory, was one of the colleagues of the famous Austrian psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud became internationally recognized with his groundbreaking theories regarding the conscious vs. unconscious parts of the mind. Simultaneously beginning his Jung art therapy theories, Jung felt that even though Freud made the goal of his therapy the unconscious conscious, he felt that it was made to sound as if it were an unpleasant “cauldron of seething desires.”

But according to the American Art Therapy Association, Inc., Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud together, along with many other psychiatric individuals at the time, had a big hand in the development of art therapy. It was thought that these historical practitioners had the same insight that entered into the development of art therapy, along with its application of conflict resolution. The healing and learning that was derived from the “talk therapy” these men eventually became known for, was thought to have built a base for uncovering the unconscious levels of the mind. But many feel that it was the Jung art therapy that seemed to be the method upon which today’s art therapy received its roots.

One of the tools Carl Jung used for his patients to express their unconscious feelings was art, bringing forth the Jung art therapy method. Influenced by both psychology and psychiatry, Jung’s influence was based on his devotion to the psychological meaning that was inside of each art piece. Freud himself never had his patients do their own artwork, but Carl Jung encouraged it. “To paint what we see before us, ” Jung wrote, “is a different art from painting what we see within.”

Totally rejecting Freud’s theories, Jung expanded the field of psychoanalysis on a personal level. The Jung art therapy included artwork of all levels, the interaction of mythology and its influence on the present moment, and the thoughts of native people which included the round spiritual mandala and the Sanskrit. Many felt he had more common sense than Freud, as the he felt the individual’s psyche had more than one interacting systems. One of these was the ego, as he dismissed Freud’s superego and id, feeling that the ego alone was considered a personal unconscious state of the mind but as a fundamental collective unconscious one.

With much more of an optimistic view of art than did Freud, with his Jung art therapy views Carl Jung felt that psychological art originated within the psyche and was considered to be intelligible to the general mass. But even more, he discovered that another style called visionary art, dew on the collective unconscious and was a lot deeper and with less individual nature. This sort of art were of images–appearing in dreams and in the art form–and were more spontaneoius and were considered to be more fulfilling images. He considered them as metaphors that held the troubled individual’s separate worlds together in a world of trauma and chaos.

The History of Art Therapy

It is difficult to look at the history of art therapy and its true meaning until one goes back to the history of the visual arts, where art was not art but was considered a trade or workmanship by the general mass or tradesmen. Artistic symbols were used as visual records of self-expression and communication. And even though ancient healing involved art in a multitude of forms and ideas, the history of art therapy was non-existent over the centuries until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, yet art was not.

The first men to apply art therapy to their psychiatry field were Ambrose Tardieu and Paul-Max Simon. French psychiatrists, they published studies regarding the artwork of the mentally ill. Looking at similar characteristics and symbolism of the patient’s artwork, these men viewed the developing history of art therapy as one of the best effective diagnostic tools in order to identify a specific type of mental illness or traumatic event of the time.

Later on, Margaret Naumburg incorporated the field of art into psychotherapy in order for her own patients to visualize and recognize their unconscious state of mind. Using this form of psychological counseling, she founded the Walden School in the year 1915 to apply her findings to her student’s artwork. To this day, she is considered the actual founder of art therapy in the United States, after publishing quite heavily on the subject and teaching art therapy seminars at the New York University in the 1950s. From this moment on, the history of art therapy had a new beginning that would lead to a guarantee of its success.

Deeply rooted in the theories of Freud and Jung, both the conscious and subconscious play a major part in the two part process of art therapy–the creation of art and having its meaning discovered. The history of art therapy has shown that visual images and symbols are easily accessible to the human mind, and is considered to be the most natural form of communication. Each patient, regardless of their problem or age, is encouraged to visualize something in their mind they cannot talk about, yet have strong feelings and emotions about it. The art therapist then reviews it to have the patient interpret it.

As the field of art therapy progresses, it is centered on visual mediums, and is mainly used in the mental health treatment. But it can also be used with traditional medicine in order to treat organic diseases and conditions. It is documented over the years through the history of art therapy that art therapy allows the patients to develop their own style of coping skills, and promotes healing by relieving their stress.

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